"That was the first time I've had a standing ovation like that" midperformance, Cosgrove said backstage at Waterbury's Palace Theater last Wednesday, opening night of a highly anticipated five-day, eight-show run. "That doesn't happen in every city. It was special."

Those involved with bringing the touring production to the Brass City expressed similar post-show sentiments. For the Palace, the shows marked the most successful run since the theater reopened nine years ago, both in terms of attendance and box office revenues.

"It holds the record," said Frank Tavera, the theater's chief executive officer. "It went incredibly well. It beat internal expectations, which is good."

All told, the show's run brought more than 12,600 people through the theater from Wednesday through Sunday. In five days, the musical about Valli and the 1960s singing group the Four Seasons raked in about 30 percent of what the nonprofit performing arts center expects to make this fiscal year. That's $750,000 toward its roughly $2.5 million net budget. The mayor stopped by twice on opening day, once to officially declare "Jersey Boys Week" in Waterbury and the second time to share the proclamation with the opening night crowd.

And the final bonus that made theater administrators evoke the Seasons' hit, "Oh What a Night?", the success adds industry cachet to the theater, demonstrating that a longer run with a big show can yield tremendous results in Waterbury.

Palace officials said that translates into more leverage to jockey for higher caliber, in-demand shows alongside more entrenched and established venues like Hartford's Bushnell or New Haven's Shubert. Typically, places like the Bushnell and the Shubert, which have a core subscriber base two to three times that in Waterbury, secure big shows easier because there are more opportunities for the theaters and the show to exceed expectations.

Admittedly, a lot was riding on the Waterbury run. Simply to break even for costs associated with booking the 2006 Tony-winning Best Musical, the Palace had to pull in about 10,000 attendees. The more typical three-show runs usually attract about 4,200 people. And this marked only the third time since 2004 the theater had hosted an eight-show run.

From the moment he pursued "Jersey Boys" for the Palace's schedule, Tavera said he felt strongly it would do well in Waterbury.

"The title so screams this community. This one, we knew, would connect with audience members," he said.

Even knowing the core audience existed, several obstacles meant success was not necessarily guaranteed. For starters, the past two Octobers proved disastrous for theaters across the region, including the Palace, due to unprecedented weather events. A blip in the power Sunday downtown caused fleeting panic in the Palace's administrative offices, but once the lights returned, so did the calm.

"Jersey Boys" had already stopped in Connecticut three times previously, twice in Hartford and last fall in New Haven. In fact, the Palace postponed announcing part of its annual Broadway series to not conflict with sales in New Haven last autumn. Then, the tour was rerouted and the show pushed back from last season to this year.

"There was a huge risk with all of that, but with a title like this, it was worth the risk for what it meant to us as an organization," said Tavera, acknowledging: "If this was a failure, dear lord, that would have put so much pressure on every other show. But instead we're in a really good position at the start of the year."

Area restaurants, from fine dining establishments to places that sell pizza by the slice, shared stories about being busier than usual thanks to the steady stream of theatergoers.

Anthony D'Elia, co-owner of Nino's and San Marino restaurants in Waterbury, said both eateries experienced a discernable uptick in business.

"It was obviously very crowded. The weekends are busy, but you could see there was a lot more going on than normal," D'Elia said. "We anticipated being busy. We brought on as much extra (staff) as we could. It definitely was not a normal weekend."

" The show was phenomenal! I had no idea just how great it would be. Powerful, riveting, and unbelievably awesome. Being of Italian heritage and originally from New York, I was truly touched by the performance. Great job by the entire cast of capturing a specific time and culture in our history. "

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